Date: January 6, 1905
Source: Lenin Collected Works, Volume 26
Pages: 241-244

EXCERPTS FROM FOREIGN NEWSPAPERS ON THE FALL OF 
PORT ARTHUR

The *Münchener Allgemeine Zeitung* (January 4) concludes its editorial with the words: "Perhaps the consequences (of the taking of Port Arthur) are such that one can say of the fall of Port Arthur: it has made an epoch in world history."

There is no use thinking of the return of Port Arthur. It will remain with the Japanese even after the conclusion of peace—"for no power will get the idea of wresting from its possessor, by means of diplomatic intervention, a prize of victory purchased at such a cost." Japan acquires a base of influence over both Manchuria and Korea and China.

One newspaper (*La Suisse*, January 6, 1905) remarks, not without melancholy: Port Arthur has capitulated. Tsarism has not yet capitulated... ((And further: can the uprising spread beyond university centers? Can it lead to anything besides street beatings? Revolution??... Is it perhaps a palace revolution?))

*Der Bund*, January 5, 1905

"The Value of the Russian Fleet. What enormous losses Russia has sustained from the destruction alone of the Fleet in Port Arthur and other vessels in East Asian waters can be seen from the following data: before February 8, 1904, between Vladivostok and Shanghai there were 68 Russian warships, namely: 7 battleships, 14 cruisers, 7 gunboats, 3 mine-layers, 2 armored cruisers, 25 destroyers and 10 torpedo boats. The value of all these vessels is estimated at 279,250,000 rubles, of which 103,600,000 rubles fall on the 7 battleships alone."

* At Lenin's: a scribal error—6 I 04. —Ed.
** At Lenin's: a scribal error—5 V 04. —Ed.

1 All three references and quotations are taken from the last paragraph of the editorial from the *Allgemeine Zeitung* of January 4, 1905. The article is titled "Der Krieg in Ostasien" ("War in East Asia") and has the subheading "Port-Arthur hat kapituliert" ("Port Arthur has capitulated").